


breakfast

by canonlytrans



Category: The Royal Romance (Visual Novel)
Genre: Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 16:14:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14139726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canonlytrans/pseuds/canonlytrans
Summary: the social season has few good moments.





	breakfast

The entire room buzzes. Like she's gonna fall over, trip on something and black out. Her head burns, her throat hurts… and, God, this music is too fucking loud. Drumming in her ears and directly into her brain. She tries to find a source, then realizes her head’s the source. She vaguely remembers drinking a few too many shots… four? Five? More?

Her stomach sours at the thought.

What time is it? Her eyes search for a clock, some sign of what time, day, whatever it is. Finally her eyes settle on an alarm clock - 10:54 AM.

“ _Fuck_ ,” she manages, stumbling towards the bathroom, facing her reflection. Her make-up’s smeared, mascara running down her cheeks, eyeshadow and eyeliner smudged together. She looks like a raccoon. A trashy, well dressed raccoon. Still in that stupid green dress. She takes a whiff of the fabric and groans, shoulders slumping.

She peels off the dress, turning on the shower. The water's burning hot, and it feels so good. Her head's still drumming, her entire body is exhausted… but at least the water feels nice.

She's leaning back, letting the water rain over her stomach, eyes closing, when there's a pounding at the door. At first, it's almost hazy, barely audible, but then it registers and Lily’s turning off the shower and grabbing the closest towel. “ONE SEC!”

The pounding stops.

Lily folds the towel against her. Her hair drips water all over her shoulders, and she catches a glimpse at herself in the mirror, and she almost groans again. Was it possible for her to look worse?

“Lily, are you in there?”

It's Maxwell. Because who else could it have been?

“Yeah, yeah - gimme a sec!”

She grabs her bra off the bathroom floor and quickly buttons it, then grabs her tank top and shorts out of her suitcase. “Come in, I'm decent!”

The door pushes open, and there's Maxwell, looking just as exhausted as she feels. He blinks at her for a second. “Bertrand’s gonna kill you. Actually,” he says, voice sounding raw, “he's gonna kill me. You look like….”

“Garbage? Shit?”

He sort of laughs. “I wouldn't say that, but….”

“I look shit.” Lily practically flops onto the bed. “Lemme guess, there's some noble brunch… or, uhhh…. Is that baking thing _today_?”

“Yep.”

“You let me sleep in,” she says.

“More like _I_ slept in,” Maxwell says, rubbing the back of his neck. “Drank too much last night. I think the only person who didn't was Liam.”

Right. Right. Drake’s birthday. They'd gone out clubbing to that Western bar. Danced and drank and she's pretty sure a mechanical bull was involved, but that's a bit hazy. “Mhm,” she says, staring at the ceiling fan. Her stomach lurches. “I'm gonna die.”

“You look like you could use some breakfast,” says Maxwell, words sort of slurring together.

Lily’s head pops up, brightening up a bit at the thought of eggs and bacon, chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup drizzled all over them, maybe a bagel or an English muffin with butter and maybe apple jam, some coffee…. She lets out an audible moan at the thought. Maxwell stares at her for a second, but the thought of coffee with some milk and a bit of sugar…. Mmmmm.

“Okay, take me to the breakfast.”

“A woman after my own heart,” he says, and helps her up. She stumbles forward a bit, almost dragging him with her, but luckily their combined weight is enough to keep them steady. “How much did you drink last night?”

“M’not sure,” Lily replies, trying to count back. But it's still a blur, and trying to remember makes her head ache. “A couple. Probably four shots at most. We were partying. S’kinda expected that you'll drink a lot. Kinda wish I hadn't, though.”

He sort of laughs. “Tell me about it. My head feels like it's going to explode.”

She throws an arm around his shoulder. “Next time, stop me?”

“Mhm.”

With his help, she manages it downstairs. Surprisingly, the manor isn't abuzz with activity, unlike it usually is. There's hardly a person in sight. But the air smells great, like baked goods, and Lily’s stomach grumbles. She's hungrier than she thought.

Maxwell leads her into the kitchen, gestures for one of the cooks. Their voices twine together a little, and Lily stops listening after a few moments, looking around the kitchen. There are a few people working - probably just doing the usual, cooking lunch or whatever. Maybe for themselves, she has no idea. The smell, the quiet chatter…. It reminds her of where she used to work. The restaurant that got her here in the first place.

Maxwell returns after a few more minutes, holding two cups of something dark coloured. He holds one out to her and she takes it. “I asked them to make the greatest thing they can.” He takes her arm and leads her into a cute little sitting room, with cushy velvet-covered chairs, beautiful green drapes, a view out into the apple trees. He plops down at a little table, setting his mug down.

“Sounds good,” she says, breathing in the smell of coffee. Mmm. She takes a sip. It tastes bitter, but the warmth spreads through her entire body. Immediately she feels a little more awake. “What's the usual hangover cure in Cordonia?”

“Probably the same as everywhere else. Food. Water. Sleep. You know.”

“ _Very_ specific.”

Maxwell gives her a look, the kind that says ‘shut up’ (except probably slightly more polite, since he is nobility.) “You know what I mean.”

“S’why the coffee? Not that I’m not thankful.”

“We’ve got a long day ahead of us, Lily! Baking pie for a competition! Dressing nice! I did mention dressing nice, didn’t I? _Please_ tell me you have a nice outfit.”

She gestures at what she's wearing, tank top, shorts and all. Her bra strap’s dangling off her shoulder, and her hair’s still wet. “Is this okay?”

“Uh,” he says. “I -”

And then one of the kitchen staff appears with a tray of food. She can immediately smell it, and her mouth waters. She grabs the tray, licking her lips. Fruit salad, a pitcher of ice cold apple juice, bread with butter and cinnamon and sliced apples, some sort of apple-laden pastry. She grabs a fork and digs in, pouring a glass of apple juice, piling some fruit salad onto a plate, snatching a slice of bread and practically shoving it in her mouth…. God, she's dead and gone to apple heaven.

She lets out a muffled moan, looking up from her plate. “This is so good? Can you orgasm from food? Can I fucking marry this food?”

Maxwell blinks at her, then swallows whatever he's eating and says, “Wow, you've really never had Cordonian food before, have you?”

“No,” she says, shoving another pastry in her mouth. It's so sweet and gooey, with hints of cinnamon and honey and…. Yep, she's in heaven. “M’never leavin’ now. Soooo _good_!”

He snorts.

She swallows, grabs her coffee, and takes another drink. “Is this how you felt when I got you cronuts?”

“Mmmhmm. Something like that,” Maxwell replies, grinning. “I'm glad you like it, though. If you're going to be queen, you need to like apple-flavoured everything.”

“ _Everything_?”

“Yup! Apple pastries, apple cake, apple bread, apple -”

“Okay, okay, I get it. Thanks, Maxwell.”

“Well, you know what Bertrand would say.”

Lily frowns, then says, “‘Why didn't you get her to eat apple stuff _sooner_ , Maxwell? Don't you know how _important_ this is to Cordonia’s future? We _must_ have a queen who enjoys apples! Otherwise House Beaumont is _ruined_!’”

“Hey, that's a pretty good impression!”

“Thanks. I'm here all week.”

“Hopefully longer.”

“Hopefully.”


End file.
